


oh how I miss that bright sun

by CarbonFootprint



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Body Worship, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Post-Kerberos Mission, Pre-Kerberos Mission, Reunions, Too much body worship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-11
Updated: 2016-08-11
Packaged: 2018-08-08 03:56:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,600
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7742419
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CarbonFootprint/pseuds/CarbonFootprint
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Keith’s entire body thrummed with life and heat and energy, and it was always thrilling for Shiro to have him so pliant under his palms, so relaxed and soft in his arms. He would never get used to the feeling that Keith was all his and he was similarly bound to the younger cadet in return. Love was a fascinating mystery, but if it was always as meaningful as the feeling of Keith in his arms, Keith’s lips on his own, on his skin, Keith’s hands in his own, he knew he would never lose it, that it would never fade from his heart."</p>
<p>In which Shiro leaves and returns, and learns and relearns Keith's body as many times as needed.</p>
            </blockquote>





	oh how I miss that bright sun

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! ; w;)//
> 
> I'm finally taking a chance and posting something for Voltron fandom! Sheith is such a great ship so here's almost 7k of body worship I accidentally wrote (it wasn't supposed to be this long...)
> 
> Please enjoy! <3

The Kerberos mission was the biggest opportunity of Shiro’s career, and when his commander had invited him to take part he had had no qualms about saying yes immediately. He had worked hard enough to get himself to a point where he was considered one of the best soldiers in the garrison. Most of the younger cadets were in awe of him, and those on equal level with him regarded him with friendliness, but he could sense their well-disguised envy. To be trusted with a mission such as the plan for Kerberos, he knew he had truly garnered much favor with his superiors, and that made him proud.

From then on, the months of preparation for the mission had been fine. He had been busy, but everything was just fine.

It was only the last week or so before the mission that it really sunk in that he was _leaving_ Earth for an entire _year_. He would be out in space, not alone of course, but he would be gone for a whole year with questionable communication back to Earth and risks of never coming back.

And Keith would be the one who was alone.

For months, he had figured that Keith was just fine with the mission, fine with him leaving, but as soon as he realized the severity of his impending departure he realized that Keith was not okay in the slightest. The younger cadet had become closed off from him, and he hadn’t even noticed. He had been so exhausted at night that he hadn’t even paid much attention to the fact that Keith had all but stopped slipping into his room after dark.

He couldn’t remember the last time he had held Keith in the past months, the last time he had kissed him, heard his laugh, made him smile.

Slowly, Keith was pulling away from him, probably to protect himself and his own heart, and the realization nearly made him want to cancel the mission altogether.

But as much as he loved Keith, he knew he couldn’t back out when people were counting on him, which meant he had a week to make sure Keith knew how much he loved him and how after a year he would return and it would be like nothing had changed.

He started by making a point to eat both lunch and dinner with Keith, taking him to a quieter place where it could just be the two of them. Keith had seemed wary at first, but by lunch on the second day he had relaxed again and shifted to sit closer to Shiro, even going as far to share food with him and hold his hand under the table.

It was still bittersweet. He would be leaving and Keith would be alone. Maybe it would have been better to just let Keith take the time he needed to distance himself from the truth of the situation, but he didn’t want to leave while the boy he loved thought he was abandoning him.

Keith had been abandoned before, and Shiro wasn’t going to be next person to do that to him, to create a new scar on his heart and a dark memory in his mind. He would show Keith how much he loved him, and then remind him over and over that it would only be a year, a year in which they would miss each other for sure, but then he would be back and things would be normal again.

He made his way to Keith’s room the night before he was supposed to leave, standing with his knuckles raised in front of the door, pausing for a moment before he knocked twice. Maybe it would be better to get a long night of rest, but he knew his priorities were in the right place. He could sleep when he was in space. In that moment, all he needed was to hold Keith until the moment in which he had to let him go.

Keith answered the door after a moment, his eyes widening at Shiro standing there. He was dressed simply in a tank top and sweat pants tied low around his hips, and Shiro could see how his hair was mussed probably from laying in bed.

“Shiro,” his name left Keith’s lips after a beat, “Shouldn’t you be resting? You have a big day tomorrow…” His voice was low, his tone tinged with melancholy, and after he spoke his head dropped low so Shiro couldn’t see his eyes.

“I assume the Holts are fast asleep right now,” Shiro said slowly, stepping forward to hook a finger under Keith’s chin, gently tugging his head up once more, “But I find I have more important needs to tend to tonight. Tomorrow is a big day of course, but tonight all I want to do is spend the rest of my time with you.” He saw the way Keith’s eyes widened at his words before the younger man slowly stepped back, opening the door wider for Shiro to enter the room.

He closed and locked the door behind him, not wanting anyone to interrupt his last few hours with Keith. When he turned away from the door, Keith was already laying in the bed, his back pressed to the wall to give Shiro room. The bed obviously wasn’t made for two people, but they always made it work, and Shiro would never protest to holding Keith in his arms, completely flush against him.

He crossed the room to the bed, sitting down on the edge to just watch Keith laying there for a moment, his eyes dark in the dim light of the room.

“Are you going to lay down or not?” Keith huffed, a pout coming to his lips as his brows furrowed.

“In a minute,” Shiro murmured, “I just want to… Look at you for a moment,” he breathed, reaching out to stroke his fingers through Keith’s hair, feeling the softness of his dark locks against his skin. Some strands were damp, evident of a shower taken that night, and Shiro couldn’t help but to lean down, hovering over Keith as he pressed his face to the boy’s neck, smelling the sweet scent of his shampoo and the natural aroma of the one he loved.

“You’re so sappy,” Keith mumbled, but he didn’t jerk away as Shiro stroked through his hair and pressed a kiss to his temple. He was defiant and reluctant in his tone and words, but his body was always so honest, especially when they were alone together.

“I just want to memorize every bit of you,” Shiro whispered, pulling back a bit so he could gaze into Keith’s eyes, “I want to burn you into my memory so that when I come back a year from now I will still know exactly what makes you tick, and I’ll remember everything that makes me love you.”

“Like I said,” Keith sighed, “You’re a complete sap.”

“Maybe,” Shiro smiled, gently pushing Keith so the boy was laying flat on his back against the bed, “But you’re the one who puts up with me, isn’t that right?”

“I guess so,” Keith rolled his eyes, looking off to the side for a long moment before he looked back, pinkness rising to his cheeks before he spoke again, “Well? Are you going to get on with your sentimental memorization thing or not?”

“Don’t you seem eager,” Shiro laughed at the sudden change in his demeanor, “But I’m content in taking my time here,” he smiled before he leaned in, capturing Keith’s lips in a slow kiss. Keith gasped against him and he felt hands coming up, one to hold against the back of his neck and the other curling into the fabric of his shirt. He could taste whatever Keith was feeling in his kisses. Even when the other boy kept his guard up, he could always break it down and discover when their lips met.

Keith was _desperate_.

Desperate and sad, already aching with loneliness and Shiro hadn’t even left yet.

It felt like his heart was breaking at the feeling, but he still had time. He had time to kiss and cherish Keith until they fell asleep in each other’s arms. He had time to worship and love him until their very last second together was up.

He would do it. He had to.

Keith’s lips parted against his own, his hot mouth letting out low breaths against his own lips, and he didn’t hesitate for a second to delicately taste his tongue. Keith whimpered against him and his fingers clutched tighter as if to say over and over again _don’t go_.

_Don’t go._

_Don’t go._

_Please don’t leave me._

He broke the kiss in order to take a shaky breath, feeling tears burning under his closed lids as he pressed his forehead to Keith’s. He could feel warm air leaving Keith’s mouth and hitting his own lips, a soft reminder that they were still together in that moment.

But he was still _leaving_.

“I know it hurts,” he whispered and he felt Keith tense up under him, a cut off sound coming from his throat, “I know… I know… It hurts me too. You can’t see it, but my heart is _aching_ , Keith.”

“Then _don’t go_ ,” Keith’s voice came, cracking with sorrow, “Please don’t go, Shiro…”

“You know I have to, I know you know that,” Shiro whispered, letting his eyes open once the feeling of tears had passed, “But we have right now. So please, just let me take you in my arms and hold you. Let me kiss every bit of your skin. Let me make you feel how much I love you, and then when we’re together in a year, I’ll do it all over again, okay? I promise, I promise you.”

“Okay,” Keith choked out, the sound fading into a quiet sob, “ _Okay_.” Shiro kissed him again then, moving past his lips to taste the inside of his mouth, licking and sucking at his tongue with slow careful movements. Keith reciprocated slowly, soft sounds of sorrow leaving his throat that Shiro easily swallowed and swallowed again. He was sad too, his own heart aching, but all he wanted at that moment was to take Keith’s distress away.

He pulled away from Keith’s lips, but didn’t stop his kisses, moving his mouth down to kiss at Keith’s chin, edging to the side to mouth along his jaw. Keith’s skin tasted sweet and clean whenever he dared to take a taste, just careful slips of his tongue against smooth skin.

As he moved along his jaw, he dropped a hand to the hem of Keith’s shirt, tugging at the fabric before he pushed it up against his skin, eventually having to stop his kisses for a quick moment as Keith tugged the shirt over his head, tossing it to the floor besides the bed. He resumed quickly, kissing and caressing Keith’s bare skin, feeling the warmth and heat of him traveling from his fingers up through his arms to seemingly settle in his heart.

“Mm… Shiro,” Keith whined low and quiet in the dark, his fingers curling into Shiro’s hair as he kissed down the length of his neck, “I-if you’re going to make a mark, do it where no one will see.”

“But I’m not going to make a mark,” Shiro said easily in response, raising his head from where he had been kissing across Keith’s collar bones, “I don’t need anyone to know that you are mine except for you and me. That’s all that matters in my eyes. I don’t need to seek that truth from anyone but you.” Keith blinked at him with his eyes wide and his lips parted before his entire expression softened, his lips curving into a kind of tender smile that Shiro knew was reserved for him.

“I love you, Shiro,” the younger cadet whispered, his violet eyes so warm that Shiro had to lean in again, had to claim his lips again. Keith kissed him back slowly, breathing against him as he settled his hands on Keith’s hips, fingers dipping beneath the waistband of his sweatpants just for a moment, just to feel the heat of his skin before he pulled away. It wasn’t his intent to make this about heat or lust. All he wanted for their final hours together was to cherish Keith wholly and completely.

He slid his hands up Keith’s sides, stroking the lithe muscle hidden beneath his skin, his thumbs passing once over his soft nipples before his hands rounded the younger boy’s shoulders. He stroked his hands down Keith’s shoulder blades after, slipping one arm around his waist as Keith arched into him, seeking to be closer, _closer_.

Fingers splayed over Keith’s back, pressing gently and feeling the tight cords of muscle vibrating and shifting with movement under his hand. One of Keith’s arms slung over his shoulders, gripping tightly to his shirt as the cadet cupped his cheek, deepening their slow kisses.

Keith’s entire body thrummed with life and heat and energy, and it was always thrilling for Shiro to have him so pliant under his palms, so relaxed and soft in his arms. He would never get used to the feeling that Keith was all his and he was similarly bound to the younger cadet in return. Love was a fascinating mystery, but if it was always as meaningful as the feeling of Keith in his arms, Keith’s lips on his own, on his skin, Keith’s hands in his own, he knew he would never lose it, that it would never fade from his heart.

He broke away from Keith’s lips after a long while in favor of chasing the paths his fingers traced down his neck to his chest, pressing slow, reverent kisses to his body. Soft sounds left Keith’s lips as he moved, kissing and licking, never using his teeth for fear of marking him. He wanted their last night to be only love rather than lust because that was what Keith deserved.

So he kept going, kissing and stroking to the tune of Keith’s quiet sighs and hands in his hair. It was relaxing in a way, and in that moment everything had faded. The mission the next day was pushed away, the people counting on him were banished from his mind; everything was just Keith, only Keith, and that was exactly how he wanted the night to go.

Eventually, Keith’s hands tugged lightly at his hair and he looked up from where he was kissing along Keith’s hips. The younger boy’s eyes were half-lidded, filled with calm sleepiness, and there was an adoring smile on his lips.

“It’s past midnight,” he whispered, “Don’t you think you’ve had enough?”

“I could never have enough, not of you anyway,” Shiro smiled, but he relented, moving back up to cup Keith’s cheek against his palm, “What now then?”

“Hold me,” Keith answered after a long moment, his face turning in until his lips met the inside of Shiro’s wrist, “Hold me the rest of the night…”

Shiro could hear the words and feel them being murmured into his skin, Keith’s soft, kissed-red lips moving slowly against his wrist. He couldn’t and likely wouldn’t ever deny him so he lay down on his side, wrapping his arms around Keith’s smaller body to pull him close. Keith in turn cuddled near, his face pressed to his neck as he curled in order to mold himself to Shiro’s body. They fit together so easily, like puzzle pieces meant to be connected, always made for each other even when apart. 

“I love you, Keith,” Shiro couldn’t help but whisper, pressing his lips to Keith’s hair, “And I will be back for you in no time at all.”

“Okay,” Keith breathed out, and Shiro could feel his eyelashes fluttering against the skin of his neck, suddenly damp with unshed tears, “ _Okay_ … I- I love you too, Shiro.” He was quiet after that and no more words were spoken. Keith fell asleep first, his breaths slow and even as he lay curdled in Shiro’s arms.

Shiro stayed awake a while after and just watched Keith breathe. He stroked a thumb over his cheek, grazed his lips lightly, traced the gentle curve of his jaw. He had meant it when he had said he needed to memorize everything, and he took all the time he had until his exhaustion got the best of him and he fell asleep still holding Keith in his arms.

* * *

 

When the Galra took him, Shiro’s only thoughts had been of Keith, of broken promises and a longing to hold him just one more time, kiss him one more time. The last time he had seen his face, heard his voice, had been through a short video communication before he had to hurry off to help the Holts. Keith had been laying in his bed, telling him some minor details of his day, and Shiro had done the same, though there wasn’t much going on in space from what he had seen.

They had gotten used to the new arrangements, spotty but generally frequent conversations that were usually fairly short, but they were enough.

Enough to remind him that he was coming back to in a year.

Enough to let his mind stray back into sweeter memories.

But he wasn’t coming back anymore, and thoughts like that were dangerous as a prisoner. Thoughts like that made him strong in heart, willing him to survive the mess he was in to get back to Keith, but they exposed a weakness to the aliens who could so easily penetrate his mind.

 “The Champion has a weakness,” the one called Haggar had drawled after about a month into his captivity, a wicked smile on her lips, “That won’t do, will it… The Champion shouldn’t seem weak in any way, yet there is something, isn’t there? Something you protect in that feeble little mind of yours.” A hand curled into his hair, clawed nails digging painfully into his scalp, “Maybe we should flush it out?”

“There’s nothing,” Shiro forced himself to say, gritting his teeth against the hand clenching his hair, “ _Nothing_.” It went against even instinct in his body to deny his adoration for Keith, but he had to, to keep the both of them safe.

“You can’t lie to me, human,” Haggar laughed softly, “Your emotions are so clear, so easy to take and destroy. The Champion is in _love_ …”

“ _No_ ,” he repeated, his voice hard as he stared down at his knees, “There is no one.” He blinked away the stinging threat of tears in his eyes, curling his shackled hands into fists as Haggar hummed lowly, grasping him by the chin to jerk his head up.

“Why don’t we test that theory?” she cackled, “I can make you show me everything that’s inside your pathetic head, and when I find the weakness you so obviously possess, I’ll send some of our soldiers to pay whomever it is a visit. Whatever filthy human that has your thoughts so occupied, we’ll destroy it, wipe its existence away from the course of the universe. Only then will you be truly strong for us…” He felt his blood boiling at just the thought of the Galrans being sent to find Keith, to _kill_ Keith, and he wouldn’t be able to stop it. From what they had already done to him, and what they would do to him in the future, he would never wish anything remotely similar on his worst enemy. Keith was probably in enough pain from the result of the mission.

Would he even fight if aliens came to kill him?

_No_.

No he would never let that happen. He knew he had to keep Keith safe at all costs. He didn’t know what he could possibly do to save his own life in the current circumstances, but he could save Keith.

So he forced everything away, pushed Keith back and out of his mind no matter how painful it was, buried him solely in his heart, anything to keep him safe until he could get back to him and remember. It hurt and his mind seared. He wanted to cry and bring Keith back. He wanted to bring back the memories of lips on his own, hands held tight, bodies pressed together, but he couldn’t, not then, maybe not ever. 

Because the Galra were ruthless, and they had latched onto his love so easily and wouldn’t even think twice about destroying it if they were allowed to explore any deeper.

He buried Keith in his heart, reinforcing the love he felt there with scarcely any of the memories left to hang onto. It wasn’t hard with how exhausted he was, how hurt and terrified he was at the hands of the Galrans. He didn’t know if they would eventually break him or not, but if it happened he knew his most treasured memories would be safe.

In the end, all he had left was a name and a face, the yellow-orange of a lower-ranked cadet uniform compared to the dark green of his own attire.

A hand raised in a salute.

Pretty violet eyes.

A high, bright laugh spilling from smiling lips.

_Keith_.

* * *

 

He returned to Earth ironically around the time he would have come back anyway from the Kerberos mission, but it had felt closer to ten years than just one. Even when he was back, everything was a blur of new goals and people he had never met, but his heart knew Keith.

The worry and anguish contained in wide violet eyes made his heart race in a way that wasn’t spurred by fear as it had been for the last year.

A hand on his shoulder, squeezing lightly, thumb just slightly stroking once then twice again before pulling away.

“It’s good to have you back.”

A loaded statement, the sound of it almost shaky, tinged with sadness and relief, with hope yet also with something akin to oncoming despair.

_Keith_.

_This is_ Keith.

He didn’t have a moment to breathe for what felt like a long time. As soon as he had returned to Earth, he was gone again, piloted into space with a new mission, a new cause, appointed the leader by an alien princess with the goal to defeat the Galra.

He wanted nothing more than to wipe the Galra from the universe.

But when he had a chance to relax, to take a breath in the quiet comfort of new quarters made up for him on the castle ship, only then did he remember he wanted something _more_. 

Or rather someone.

Keith.

Memories of the garrison came back, training with a young cadet who was constantly falling off track in his classes, goading him to be better because he had the potential and Shiro recognized that.

Then holding his hand, stroking a thumb now made of metal over his knuckles. He had raised that hand to his lips and kissed. Keith had flushed. Keith had _smiled_.

Laughter burst into his ears, bright and breathless, mixed with a deeper sound that he recognized as his _own_ laugh. Fingers dug playfully into Keith’s sides, pushing peals of happiness from his lungs, eyes squeezed shut but lips smiling.

He had kissed those lips a countless number of times.

The first time was soft and slow. Keith’s cheeks had burned under his palms and his own heart had beat at a rate he had never felt before.

Then again and again, deeper, longer, tasting everything his tongue and lips and mouth could reach, kissing until he was breathless with the act.

He had kissed his whole body, tasted his skin more times than he could count. And then there were memories of a final night, Keith in his arms, clinging to him, whispered words begging him to not leave.

_Please don’t go._

_Please don’t go, Shiro._

He shouldn’t have left. He should have stayed and held Keith longer.

Keith always fit against him, molded to his side with ease, nestled up under his chin with sleepy affection. He had held him countless times and suddenly his arms ached, even the one that was replaced with metal, the sensation strong enough to penetrate something that was foreign to his human body.

He wanted to hold Keith again.

He _needed_ to hold Keith again.

Keith’s skin was always warm, so _warm_ , burning with a fire that stemmed from his very core, and Shiro wanted to soak it in again. He felt chilled since the Galra, a kind of cold that penetrated into his bones and then transcended what he could physically warm with material light.

He wanted to be warm again, but only warmed by Keith’s touch, his unmistakable presence.

When he finally blinked back from the feelings and memories swirling through his head, he realized night had fallen on the new planet he was on. He knew he should be feeling exhaustion, but every fiber of his being was burning with a need to leave the room and find Keith. His heart was racing as more and more flowed back, dozens of instances he had hidden for the sake of protecting the boy he loved, but they were together again and they were safe now.

He stood from where he had sat on the edge of the bed, his body thrumming with the energy and the urge to run and seek the only person who could set his heart at ease.

Keith probably needed it too.

Keith had been alone the entire time, cooped up in a small house in the dessert. Alone. Completely alone.

Keith needed him just as much.

So he left the quiet sanctuary of his room and went to find Keith. It was a certain sense of déjà vu as he walked down a hall in the castle ship, reached Keith’s door, and gave a sharp knock. If felt just as it had the night before he left, but this time he was coming _home_.

The door opened halfway before he saw the way Keith froze in shock. Violet eyes widened slightly before he let the door open the rest of the way, his hand falling to his side as his throat bobbed once.

“Shiro,” his name left Keith’s lips and suddenly he was at a loss for words. Instead, he just reached out with the hand that was still his own, resting his palm against soft curve of Keith’s cheek. Keith flinched lightly, but he didn’t pull away, his eyes still wide and staring up at Shiro.  Slowly, he let his fingers descend, his thumb stroking over the arch of Keith’s cheekbone, his other fingers resting against the curve of his jaw, caressing with slow, careful movements.

Keith shuddered under his touch, but he didn’t pull his hand away nonetheless. He would never pull away unless Keith wanted him to.

“Do you,” Keith finally spoke again, his voice suddenly rough with what Shiro recognized as the threat of tears, “Do you- want to come in?” It was an invitation, but there was such raw begging in his tone that Shiro knew this was right. This was the way it was always supposed to go. A year and then he would be back, and Keith would be waiting for him.

Keith _had_ waited for him.

He gave a slow nod and Keith stepped back to let him come inside. As soon as the door closed behind him, he moved forward towards Keith just as the younger boy did the same. In a second, he had his arms wrapped tightly around him, fingers clenching fistfuls of his shirt as he pulled him close, held him to his chest. Keith was shaking, trembling hard against him, but he didn’t care. Nothing mattered except the feeling that he had Keith back in his arms, back where the both of them belonged.

“ _Shiro_ ,” his name left Keith’s lips for the second time, broken and cracking with sorrow yet relief, “I-I thought you were _gone_ … I thought you weren’t coming ba-”

“I’m back, I’m _back_ ,” he whispered, soothing Keith gently as he backed them up towards the bed, “I’m back and I’m not leaving you again. I won’t leave again. _Never_ again.”

A strangled sound that resembled most closely to a sob left Keith’s throat, and he felt the vibration of the sound through his shirt, penetrating his skin, burying itself in his heart. There was too much anguish there, too much built-up misery and grief, and all he wanted to do was chase that way.

“Lay back,” he breathed, gently pushing Keith towards the bed, “Lay back for me… Let me kiss you. Please, _please_ I need to kiss you.” Keith nodded almost furiously as he pushed him slowly back into the blankets and pillows on the bed. Shiro held himself over the smaller paladin as he gazed down at him, taking in the the tear-glazed surfaces of his eyes, the way his eyebrows were upturned with desperation, his hair creating a dark halo around his head against the white of the pillows.

With careful fingers, he reached to take a hold of Keith’s chin, cocking his head back just slightly before he leaned in and kissed him.

A strangled whimper sounded in the room, and Shiro didn’t know whether it came from his throat or from Keith’s but at that moment it didn’t matter. Kissing Keith felt like coming home. Maybe they weren’t on Earth anymore, but he was home because _Keith_ was his home.

So he kissed him with all the pent up longing and desire he had felt for a year. He kissed him as if there wouldn’t be any chances after, and Keith returned his affection just as fiercely. He tasted as sweet as he had before, and the sensation of just getting to kiss him again sent more memories flooding from his heart to his mind. He nipped and licked lightly at Keith’s lips like he had done a thousand times, and Keith’s mouth opened to him. He could feel the force of Keith’s hurried breaths and quiet sobs on his tongue and he took them all in. Each and every pained sound of longing made his heart ache but slowly he took those sounds away with every slow slide of his tongue against Keith’s.

Insistent fingers clutched at the hem of his shirt, tugging several times before he broke the kiss and met Keith’s gaze. There were tears gathered on his lashes, refusing to fall just yet, but Shiro knew he would be kissing them away once they did.

“Let me see,” Keith whispered, his voice hoarse, “Let me _see_ you.”

A chill ran through him at Keith’s request because he knew what the younger paladin wanted. The Galra had done things to him, painful things, irreparable things, and the evidence of that littered his torso. From the metal that had replaced his flesh to the scars of varying length and depth on his skin, he wasn’t the same as before and he would never be the same again.

“Keith,” he managed out, swallowing around the heavy lump in his throat, “You don’t- you don’t want to see. Trust me, you don’t.”

“I do,” Keith said back quickly, without hesitance at his warning, “I do, Shiro… Do you… You do remember that night, right? When you told me you wanted to- _memorize_ everything? The night before you left?”

“It took a little bit,” Shiro sighed, “But of course I remember… When I- when they had me I- I forced myself to forget everything until I could be back with you but- I do remember, Keith, but that doesn’t change the fact that I… I don’t think you would like what you’d see…”

“Why don’t you let me be the judge of that,” Keith smiled softly despite the tears evident in his eyes, “Please Shiro…”

“Alright,” Shiro breathed out a sigh, “For you…” He sat up, slowly drawing his shirt over his head before he tossed it to the side, bare for Keith’s eyes. He could feel Keith looking at him, eyes moving over his scarred torso slowly, and then Keith’s hands were on him, fingers blazing trails of warmth across his skin and he shivered once, twice, before leaning into the seeking palms.

Scars trailed over his shoulders, his sides, but Keith’s fingers drifted over them anyway, sloping down into the sunken ones and gliding over the raised. Everywhere Keith’s fingers touched and caressed, sensation returned to him. It was only small bits of feeling, but it was there and he could _feel_ , and it was only because Keith’s hands were on him again, for the first time in too long.

Keith’s touch finally reached his arm, the arm that had been replaced with alien prosthesis, but he didn’t slow as Shiro had expected of him. Hands traced from the point of his shoulder, pausing for a second to carefully outline where skin met metal before they continued. His range of sensation in the new arm was limited, dulled by the lack of nerve-endings and receptors, but he could sense the pressure of Keith’s hands pressing against the metal. The younger paladin stilled for a long moment, and in that moment heat bled from skin to metal, permeating into the Galra technology to run up his arm and he could _feel_ it.

“Can you feel my hands?” Keith asked quietly, his eyes raising from the metal to Shiro’s face, “Can you feel it?” As he spoke, he raised the robotic hand to his lips, kissing slowly over metal fingertips.

“A little,” Shiro breathed, feeling his cheeks burning at just the sight of Keith’s kissing so reverently at something that wasn’t even originally part of him, “I can feel the heat, and the pressure.” Keith hummed in response, stilling his lips as his fingers simply stroked over the back of Shiro’s metal hand.

“I don’t care if you have scars,” he eventually spoke, “I don’t care if they gave you _this_. You’re still the same.”

“I’m not though,” Shiro shook his head, “I’m _not_ , Keith… I’m not the same after everything.”

“You are,” Keith said firmly, his voice hardening as his hand moved from the prosthesis to press flat against his chest, “You’re the same where it counts. Your eyes are the same, and your- your _heart_ is the same, Shiro,” he got out, his voice suddenly cracking, “Because you came back to me, a-and you _remember_ me…”

Keith’s words sunk in deep, and he raised his hand to press over Keith’s against his chest, staring down at the boy laying beneath him, watching him with such naked trust and love held in teary eyes. That was really all he needed. All he needed was below him, waiting for him to speak, to move, to love, and he finally could.

“I remember you,” he breathed, curling his fingers into Keith’s, lowering his head to kiss against his knuckles, “But I need- I _want_ to feel you again… I have to, just to convince myself that this is real.”

“This is real,” Keith smiled softly, “And you can. You can do whatever you want.”

Shiro gave a slow nod, swallowing once before he reached to thumb at the hem of Keith’s shirt. This was all so familiar, but still so hazy. He remembered his lips sliding over Keith’s skin, but the sensation was lost on him. He wanted his lips to burn with how many kisses he would press into the boy he loved. He wanted to feel him pressed to his own body, completely bare and so alive.

Keith’s hand met his own and slowly the shirt came off, and Keith was exposed to him and so…

“You’re so beautiful,” he whispered before he could catch himself. He saw Keith’s cheeks go red before he dipped his head low, capturing his lips once again, kissing hard and fast with such longing, “Everything about you is _beautiful_ ,” he murmured when the kiss broke, giving Keith’s stunned face a smile before he moved to his neck, nipping and licking, kissing and mouthing at everything he could reach. He could feel Keith’s breaths speeding in his chest against his palms, but he kept going, touching and caressing every bit of what he couldn’t have for so long, too long.

His lips were against Keith’s stomach, kissing the defined grooves of muscle, when he heard a quiet sound leave the body under him. He brought his eyes up to see Keith, his hand pressed over his lips, his eyes wet and spilling tears down his flushed cheeks. His chest hitched with tiny hiccupped sobs that Shiro could feel against his own body.

“Are you alright?” he asked, worry edging into his voice as fears ran through his mind at a rate almost too fast for him to grasp. Did Keith realize he didn’t want this after all? Did he realize that things were too different?

“It’s okay,” Keith’s voice came as a sob, unbridled and raw, and Shiro moved in an instant, cupping his wet cheeks in his hands, stroking his thumbs through tracks of tears, “N-no, it’s okay, it’s _okay_ …”

“Then why are you crying?” Shiro asked quietly, “Please tell me, Keith.”

“Because I- I _missed you_ ,” Keith cried, his arms coming up to wrap around Shiro’s shoulders, holding him close, “I-I thought you were _dead_! I thought you were never coming back and I- I didn’t know what I was supposed to do... B-but now you’re here a-and your lips feel the same and- and I-I’m _happy_ but I still- I _missed_ you so much,” he choked, tears running from his eyes to splash hot and wet against Shiro’s fingers.

“Then what can I do,” he asked softly, “To make you not cry anymore,” he leaned down, resting his forehead against Keith’s, gently brushing their noses together and feeling the sudden wetness of tears slipping against his own skin.

“ _Hold me_ ,” Keith begged, and his words were the same as before, as desperate with longing as the night before he had left, “Hold me the rest of the night… And then tomorrow, a-and the next day, and the next day… Please, just- don’t ever _leave_.”

He nodded in return and then moved, laying on his side to pull Keith close. Skin pressed against skin, heated but not uncomfortably so. Rather, the warmth was more than welcome. Keith’s legs twined with his one, pushing them as close together as possible, and he wrapped his arms tightly around the other paladin, clutching him close.

_I love you._

_I love you._

“I love you, Keith,” he sighed the words, letting them flow from his lungs as natural as a breath, and he felt slightly more whole at just the utterance.

He could tell Keith was tired, but he still heard and felt the quiet murmur that left his lips, the same words, once, and then again, then once more for good measure, pressed into his skin by soft lips, lips he had kissed too many times to count.

And he _remembered_ kissing them.

And when he awoke the next morning, Keith was still curled up and bare against his chest, but there was no need for him to slip away, no need for him to leave. There was a bigger mission now, but it could wait a bit longer, and when he woke Keith to the morning light he wouldn’t be saying goodbye.

They would go together.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so so much if you got this point and read my attempt at this pairing! I have some other ideas planned, but I wanted to write something in the canon-verse first just to get a feel for the characters, ya know? 
> 
> Anyway! Thank you so much for reading, and if you leave comments or kudos that would really make my day! <3 They really help me so much, especially when first starting out in a fandom!
> 
> Please come find me on twitter [@leokuumi](https://twitter.com/leokuumi) and on tumblr [here at carbonfootprintao3](carbonfootprintao3.tumblr.com)!!! I would love to talk about Sheith or Voltron with anyone ∑d(ﾟ∀ﾟd)


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